Power Play
by Laura Picken
Summary: Castle and Beckett's relationship, through no mistake of their own, goes public. And it all works out okay. :-)
1. Chapter 1

Power Play  
A Castle One-Shot  
By Laura Picken

This is my response to a thread on the CastleCast podcast's 'murder board' on Facebook (and well, all of the questions and resulting theories that have been floating around since "Always"). I'm hoping that, at least in my own mind, it will answer the question about the NYPD's fraternization rules...;-)

DISCLAIMER: Castle, Beckett, et al. are property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC. I have no clue as to the true statistics, rules and regulations of the NYPD, so anything I shoot off my mouth and declare in this story to be 'truth' is pure fiction.

* * *

It was over.  
She was sure of it.  
Her partnership with Castle was almost certainly over.

As Kate Beckett leaned back against the elevator wall, trying to gather her strength for the gauntlet she knew she would face when she made it to the bullpen, a moment of panic started to overwhelm her. _God,_ she thought, _what if Gates demands my badge?_

It started before they even left the Hamptons...

* * *

"Mother?" Castle was on the phone, letting Martha know they were about to start the long drive back to Manhattan. "Just wanted to let you know we're on our way back...wait wait wait...slow down, Mother, tell me what's happened."

Kate's ears perked up as Castle's voice rose in volume. "They WHAT?!" He was practically screaming into the phone. "What did the column say?" Castle started pacing the room as he listened to Martha, trying to physically force himself to calm down again. He finally collapsed on the couch, holding his head in one hand as he held the phone to his ear with his other hand. "Well," Castle finally declared with a weary sigh, "I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. Does Paula know?...So she's already working on damage control, thank God. Thank you for letting me know. I'll tell her."

By the time Castle hung up the phone, Kate was nearly ready to have a panic attack herself. Her face drained of all color as her boyfriend explained the situation to her: apparently, unbeknownst to them, William and Kate had been out east for a charity polo match, and an enterprising stalkerazzi saw lights on at Castle's house and snapped pictures of them from the beach. "From what Mother told me, the pictures are tasteful, by the standards of the paparazzi..."

"But...?" asked Kate, afraid to finish the thought.

"You remember last night, Kate..."

How could she forget? Kate blushed as she realized which moment the photographer must have captured. "The balcony..."

"Our relationship's been made public, Kate," Castle finally admitted somberly. "*Very* public."

* * *

Beckett drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves as the door opened. She quickly went over a mental checklist of 'who knew': Martha and Alexis had known from almost the very beginning, and Ryan, Esposito and Lanie found out a few weeks later. Beckett smiled, remembering how the boys had surprised her by how discreet and protective they had been.

Sure enough, Ryan was waiting for her as she stepped out of the elevator. "Hey Beckett," he greeted her, "where's Castle?"

Beckett frowned, confused. _Did Ryan not *know*? _"He's at home," she replied. "He figured it would probably be best if we weren't seen coming into the precinct together, under the circumstances..."

If Ryan's casual greeting had surprised Beckett, his amused smile downright shocked her. "That's a shame," he said. "He would definitely have wanted to see this..."

Ryan walked with his boss into the bullpen, backing away only when he was sure that Beckett noticed what was on her desk: long-stemmed red roses. At least four dozen of them. The detective approached her desk carefully, noting that the arrangement seemed to be a mix of flowers in various stages of bloom: a dozen were in full bloom, and the rest were evenly mixed between half-bloomed roses and rosebuds. Beckett was inwardly fuming. True, it was an extravagantly romantic gesture, but on today? Of all days?

All of Beckett's anger melted, though, when she read the card:

_Congratulations and best of luck. (you'll need it)_

_Bob Wheldon_

_P.S. It's about damn time!_

"I swear, I didn't read the card," Ryan piped up from behind her. Beckett turned to see her fellow detective grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "The courier was a friend of a friend who does a lot of deliveries for the mayor's office."

Beckett allowed herself a small smile as she tucked the card back into its envelope. "It was a very nice gesture," she conceded.

"Detective Beckett?"

Ryan and Beckett's conversation was cut off by their captain's call from her doorway. "Yes?" Beckett replied.

"My office, Detective. Now."

Ryan squeezed Beckett's shoulder in a show of support as she walked into Gates' office, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Beckett steeled herself, preparing mentally for whatever verbal assault she assumed her captain was going to throw at her. What Beckett wasn't prepared for, though, was the latest surprise in her already surprising day.

"We're here, sir. Go ahead," Gates spoke into the open speakerphone line as she sat down behind her desk.

The voice that filled the room was unmistakable. "Detective Beckett? Mayor Wheldon here. Police Chief Warren is also on the line."

"Gentlemen," said Beckett.

The mayor got down to business immediately. "Captain Gates?"

"Yes, sir?"

"First off, I just wanted to thank you for your continued ...assistance with Mr. Castle's...research. I know that he considers the work he does with your detectives to be the primary reason for the success of the Nikki Heat series."

Gates suddenly seemed to find herself at a loss for words. "Th-thank you, sir."

"I'm sure you're aware of the...unfavorable article that was published about Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle this morning?"

Gates glared across the desk at her trouble-making senior detective. "Yes, sir."

"I'm sure you're aware of the rules about fraternization between police officers..."

Gates nodded, even though Beckett was the only one to see it. "Yes, sir."

"However," the mayor continued, "Mr. Castle is *not* a police officer, which means he is not subject to those regulations. Chief Warren, am I correct in saying that Mr. Castle is considered by One PP to be a civilian volunteer?"

"That is correct, sir," the police chief chimed in.

"And are there any rules about fraternization between officers and civilian volunteers?"

"There are no regulations at this time, sir."

"In fact, aren't many of our volunteers friends and relatives of our officers?"

"Yes, sir."

Wheldon returned the focus of the conversation to the women at the 12th. "Detective Beckett, how long have you been dating Mr. Castle?"

"Six months, sir," replied Beckett.

"That means you started dating...when you had resigned from the force, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And, obviously, you have continued this relationship since your reinstatement? Outside of the public eye?"

"Yes, sir."

Wheldon's tone turned warm, and he let out a small chuckle. "That alone is a hell of an accomplishment, detective. And a credit to *both* of you."

Beckett was slightly taken aback by the compliment. "Thank you, sir."

"Captain Gates, has Detective Beckett's performance been hindered by Mr. Castle's presence in any way?"

"Are you talking about her case closure rates," countered Gates, "or Castle's ability to..."

Wheldon cut her off quickly. "I think you know what I mean, Captain. And I think you know that I already know the answer to that question."

Beckett could have sworn that her captain was pouting, just a little. "Yes, sir."

"Then when you combine the overwhelmingly positive publicity the department gets from the Nikki Heat series with this team's case closure rate and their ability to handle themselves with discretion, does anyone here have any reason why Mr. Castle's work with the NYPD shouldn't continue?"

Gates seemed to move to speak up, but was cut off by her boss. "No, sir," replied the chief.

"Then this is settled, then," the mayor declared. "Good."

Gates had one last card to play. "Your honor," she spoke up before the call could end. "Right now I'm sure Detective Beckett is facing an overwhelming amount of attention from the press..."

Wheldon cut her off quickly. "The press has an exceedingly short attention span, Captain Gates, *especially* in New York City. If you need to take Beckett out of the field for a day or two, then that's your call."

Gates quickly understood the implied meaning behind the message. "Yes, sir."

"All right," Wheldon announced, effectively ending the conference call, "now if everyone will excuse me, I have a press conference to attend. Detective Beckett, Captain Gates, always a pleasure. Dave, I'll see you later this afternoon."

Gates hung up her phone and turned to her detective. "Is Mr. Castle with you this morning?"

Beckett shook her head. "No, sir."

"*Are* the press going to be a problem, Detective? *Do* I need to keep you out of the field until this blows over?"

"No, sir," Beckett replied with confidence.

"Then I guess we're done," Gates replied with just the slightest hint of resignation. "Dismissed."

Beckett nodded her acceptance with a quick, "thank you, sir," and left her precinct commander to her thoughts.

* * *

Mayor Robert Wheldon closed the door to his office, allowing himself to relax for the first time that day. "You know," the mayor told the man who was waiting for him, "those press conferences are always the very *least* favorite part of my day."

Richard Castle didn't even get up as his friend crossed the room to return to his executive chair. "Thanks for your help earlier. Did they..."

"Not one question about it," Wheldon replied with a smile. "That doesn't mean they won't be dogging you for a couple of days..."

Castle nodded in understanding. "But if they're not asking you about it then nobody's looking to turn it into a scandal." He got up to shake his old friend's hand. "I owe you big time for this one, Bob."

Wheldon returned Castle's handshake with a wide, warm smile. "Even if I were keeping track, I'd still be in your debt, Rick. I'm just glad I could help." As his friend turned to leave, though, the mayor found he couldn't resist the temptation. "Rick, can I ask you one question?"

"Sure, Bob," replied Castle, surprised by his friend's hesitation. "Anything. What is it?"

"You've been 'following' Kate a long time, Rick. Actually, I've never seen you go this crazy over a woman...not even Kyra. Is she really worth all of this?"

The smile on Castle's face told Wheldon everything he needed to know. "Absolutely."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so is this good? Bad? Meh? I haven't seen anyone else write their relationship going public from this perspective...am I on to something, or not? If you think I'm trying to prod you into posting comments, then you'd be right! Post 'em below. :-D **


	2. Chapter 2

"I want her life..."

Detective Karpowski poured more milk into her coffee as she watched her fellow female detective lazily stirring her coffee while her mind was clearly wandering elsewhere. "Whose life, Stegner?" _As if I had to ask..._

"Detective Beckett," sighed Stegner. She sipped her cappuccino slowly, letting the jolt from the caffeine shake her back into reality. "I mean c'mon, who wouldn't? Having a rich, attractive novelist change his playboy ways to follow you around all day, buy you coffee and flowers and write books telling the world how fabulous he thinks you are?"

"Castle didn't buy her the flowers," Ryan chimed in from his spot next to his fellow detectives, while getting ready to run his own espresso.

Two pairs of eyes leveled determined stares at Ryan. "Castle *didn't* buy her all those *expensive* red roses?" asked Karpowski. "Then who did?"

Ryan immediately realized he had said too much. "Uh...a friend?" he guessed, trying and failing to placate the women in front of him.

The women pressed forward as a unit, determined to extract a new juicy tidbit of gossip from their cornered colleague. "A friend, huh?" Stegner repeated. "No way it was that medical examiner," she commented to Karpowski, "she makes the same kind of pay that we do..."

"Which ain't that much," added Karpowski.

"Exactly," agreed Stegner. "So it has to be a friend of Castle's...James Patterson, maybe?"

Ryan shook his head nervously, but the fear in his eyes encouraged to women to press on. "Was it Stephen King?" asked Karpowski, "because If that man is that romantic I just might go out and buy his books, scary or not..."

"It...it wasn't Stephen King," Ryan stammered out nervously. "It wasn't a writer..."

The two women considered the clue that the other detective had just given them. "Maybe it wasn't one of Castle's friends..." declared Stegner, challenging her earlier assumption. A lightbulb went off in Stegner's mind as she noticed who else was missing from the bullpen that morning. "It was your partner, wasn't it? He's trying to make a play for Beckett!"

Ryan's eyes widened in shock. "M-my...my *partner*?"

Karpowski latched on to her friend's idea, accentuated as it was by Ryan's clearly growing sense of panic. "Of *course*!" exclaimed Karpowski. "It makes perfect sense..."

"Really?" asked Stegner, surprised at how quickly her friend jumped on her bandwagon. "I think it's kind of sad, myself..."

"You think so?" asked Karpowski, now confused.

"Well, yeah," commented Stegner, "I mean, now that he's seeing his friends pair off, instead of finding a girl of his own, Esposito makes a play for one of the ones who's already taken? Totally sad."

"It is kinda 'My Best Friend's Wedding' of him," agreed Karpowski.

Ryan was growing desperate to get out of this increasingly bizarre conversation. "You know," he tried to lie as he backed slowly out of the break room, "you guys are *absolutely* right. I'm going to go find my partner and try to talk some sense into him..."

His declaration was ignored. Stegner and Karpowski had totally immersed in their own world of girl gossip, giving Ryan his much-desired opportunity to take his coffee and run.

* * *

**Hi all! Apparently there is some interest in making this longer than the one-shot I planned. So I hope you liked this little add-on. :-) I have a few more ideas to take this further, but I will warn you guys that my top writing priority is still the Four Winds AU series (see my author page for details). So while I will update this story, the updates will be short and probably somewhat sporadic in nature. This will mostly get updated when I'm stuck in writers block on the Four Winds stories. And don't worry; that happens more often than you'd think. ;)  
**

**Anyway, comments are welcome, especially since this is my first attempt at flat-out humor. I'd love to hear what you think!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

The day was going slowly.

At a painful, mind-numbing crawl.

Kate Beckett pulled another file off the top of the slowly dwindling pile in her "In" box. Two months of non-stop, intensely intricate murder cases had left her exhausted and with a massive pile of paperwork to catch up on.

That exhaustion was the reason Castle had taken his girlfriend to the Hamptons for the weekend to begin with. And if they hadn't taken the trip, Kate mused, her partner would be sitting next to her, playing "Angry Birds" and finding every possible way he could to make the long day a little more bearable.

Instead, she found herself staring at an empty chair, wondering why the minutes seemed to be ticking by in slow motion. She fingered the rose closest to her hand, leaning over to smell it's delicate scent. As her hand pulled away from the bouquet, Beckett took note of the time.

_11:00am. _

_Great. _

_I can't even go out for lunch yet... _

Beckett groaned as she thought about what was probably waiting for her as soon as she stepped outside the relative safety of the precinct. She had dealt with the press during high-profile cases before, but to think about them digging through every aspect of her personal life...she was getting a headache just thinking about it.

That headache was only magnified by the shrill ring of her phone. She picked up the receiver and spoke into it quietly, "Beckett."

"Beckett?" Castle greeted her with concern, overwhelmed with guilt for not being at her side. "Are you okay?"

The detective pulled herself together quickly. "I'm fine, Castle. Just a long day of paperwork, that's all."

"There's no way that that's all, Kate," Castle countered. "Has Gates..."

"She's ignored me since the conference call we had this morning, surprisingly," said Beckett.

Castle tried to act as ignorant as he could. "Conference call?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that. I'm tempted to think you're still at City Hall..."

The detective could almost hear her boyfriend's smile over the phone. "I'm actually at Black Pawn, waiting for Paula to get off the phone."

"Ah. How's the damage control going?"

"You know what they say about when the horse is out of the barn..."

Castle hesitated for the briefest of moments; just long enough for Beckett to recognize that he was trying (and failing) to come up with a stall. "What is it, Castle?"

"Paula says we need to do a joint interview about our relationship. She's being pretty insistent about it."

The pain behind Beckett's eyes grew to pound throughout her skull. "Castle..." she warned.

Castle, apparently, had his argument all mapped out. "Paula says we can name our terms, so we can say in advance that stuff like your mother's murder is off limits. And-and, and...Oprah's even available *and* she's interested in doing our first interview together."

That piece of news took Beckett by surprise. "Oprah wants to interview *us*?"

"Yeah," Castle chuckled, his voice flipping from nerves to excitement in the span of a heartbeat. "Isn't that awesome?!"

"Kinda," Beckett reluctantly admitted, "yeah..."

"So can I tell Paula you'll do it?"

The silence between them hung uncomfortably in the air as Beckett pondered her answer to the question. "Do I really have a choice?"

"You'll always have a choice, Kate," Castle replied with an intense sincerity. "But I do think this is our best option. Oprah loves authors and loves a good story. There's no way we can come out of an interview with her looking bad."

Beckett finally let out a conciliatory sigh. The press were always going to be a part of Castle's life; it was a fact that she understood going into the relationship. And as much as she wanted to fight the idea, she knew that if she didn't work *with* the press, they would start working against her. And with the tenuous deal with Senator Bracken hanging over her head like a black thundercloud, the idea of reporters digging into her mother's murder and everything that went with it was more than she could stomach. No, the only way to keep the press from doing too much digging was to be as proactive as possible.

"Tell Paula we'll do it."

* * *

**Hi all! Don't forget to leave comments; I always love to hear what you think. :D In particular, I'd love to hear if I should write up the 'Oprah' interview. I wasn't planning on it (had this whole plan of ending the story on their first red carpet), but once the idea came out of Castle's mouth...are you guys interested? If you want to see it, what questions should Oprah ask? Let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

Victoria Gates pushed her chair back from her desk and stood up to grab her coat. She wanted nothing more than to slip into a hot bath, have a lovely dinner with her husband and put this long, long day behind her.

It had been a day filled with phone calls. Non-stop phone calls about her most high-profile (and consequently, most troublesome) team. She just could not, for the life of her, understand the appeal of Richard Castle. Yes, he's an entertaining writer...that much, at least, she was willing to admit.

But her people didn't treat him as a writer. They treated him as a cop. Even though he didn't go through the academy like they did or work their way up the ranks like they did. Maybe she had spent too long in IA, Gates mused, but anything that went against police procedure just rubbed her the wrong way. And everything about Richard Castle spit in the face of police procedure. Why was the 12th precinct so freakin' special that they needed their own mascot?

Gates knew why. Senior detective Kate Beckett was why. To be fair, Beckett was a very good detective. And her fierce loyalty to her late former captain was something Gates couldn't help but admire (once she set her IA-laden corruption suspicions aside). But the detective was also stubborn. Headstrong. And far too much of a maverick for her tastes. The way Beckett ran off after Maddox, with only Esposito as backup, nearly getting *both* of them killed...they both earned their suspensions, of that much Gates was certain. If the captain had it her way, Beckett would have a no-nonsense cop like Ryan keeping her on the straight and narrow and there was no way in hell that Kate Beckett would ever be given such a high-profile privilege as having a civilian tag along.

But it wasn't up to her. A fact that had been made painfully clear that morning. Because Richard Castle was buddies with the mayor, he got to be Victoria Gates' worst nightmare. For as long as he wanted.

It was almost enough to make Gates want to start a recall campaign.

And now Beckett and Castle were a couple. A very *public* couple. The rules about fraternization between cops were there for a reason. The couple gets distracted by each other, and everyone around them get distracted *by* them. Distracted cops make mistakes. Mistakes help bad guys to go free. Mistakes get cops killed. That's why the rules were put into place, and that's why cops agree to *follow* those rules.

But rules don't apply to Richard Castle.

So as much as Captain Gates couldn't fight the course of 'true love'...by order of the mayor...she could darn well slow it down a little.

"Detective Beckett," Gates called out, announcing her presence as she crossed the bullpen to get to the woman's desk.

Beckett looked up as she signed off on the last of her paperwork for the day. "Sir?"

"I think it would be best, detective, if Castle's...presence wasn't felt around the precinct for the rest of the week. While you are together as a couple now and I'm," Gates swallowed hard, having trouble getting out her next words, "happy...for you both, I don't want the press' rabid desire for pictures of the two of you together to affect the smooth running of this precinct any more than it has to. Once you two have the press off your backs, we'll let things return to normal."

Beckett was simply too tired to protest. "Yes, sir."

"And get these roses out of here," Gates ordered. "They're giving me a headache."

Beckett's reply was loud enough for the rest of the bullpen to hear. "Oh you mean *these* roses? These roses, given to me by *Mayor Wheldon?* Yes, sir, I'll get them out of here right away."

Gates watched as detectives Stegner and Karpowski started hitting each other, each apparently chiding the other for not guessing the correct source of Beckett's gift. Her point made as best she could, the captain mustered up the last vestiges of her dignity, turned on her heel, and walked out of the precinct.

As Beckett watched her boss leave, she heard a very familiar voice speak up behind her. "You're getting big bouquets of roses? From who?"

Beckett turned around, smiling, to see her boyfriend standing behind her, bouncing on the balls of his feet, his tone unabashedly teasing. "Are these from someone I have to worry about?" asked Castle.

"Not unless he's willing to follow me around for the next four years like a cocker spaniel," Beckett teased in response, leaning in to give Castle a gentle greeting kiss. "Hi."

"Hi. You done for the day?"

"I was done an hour ago," replied Beckett as she grabbed her coat. "It's been a long day..." She gasped as the events of the day hit her again full force. "I...I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to do tonight. I was originally thinking I was just going to go home..."

"You can still do that, you know," Castle suggested, "if you want."

"With the press camped outside my door?" countered Beckett. "No thanks. If I'm a shut-in for the night, I'd rather do it with you than without you."

Castle's smile grew even wider. "I was hoping you'd say that. Martha and Alexis are waiting for us at the loft for a movie night."

"Sounds great," Beckett agreed. "If we can get there..."

"That's what I'm here for." A third voice joined the conversation, with just as much accent and a little less attitude than Beckett was expecting to hear. Paula crossed the bullpen, assistant in tow, until she was standing directly in front of her client and his now very public girlfriend. "I know this is all a little intimidating right now, detective. But my job is to make sure you get through it in the best possible light."

"Paula, right?" asked Beckett. The publicist nodded. Beckett realized that she had no idea what she was about to experience once she stepped outside the doors of the precinct. "How bad *is* it out there?"

Paula waved off Beckett's concerns. "About a dozen guys. I've seen a lot worse. Now they will be pushing to get your picture *and* asking you questions. *Don't* answer them."

Beckett frowned, her confusion growing. "Why not?"

"The Oprah deal. We promised her the exclusive. Her people are going to be here tomorrow to work out the details for her to tape the interview at the loft by the end of the week. I don't want to jeopardize that with a wrong word said to some paparazzi, so for now let *me* do the talking."

Beckett nodded, understanding Paula's thinking and trusting that the woman was just trying to do her job. "All right, then. Let's go."

* * *

**Hi all! Thank you for all the incredible support for this story! I hope you guys are enjoying it...but I can only be sure if you leave comments below. :-)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

_A dozen guys, huh?  
_To Beckett, it felt like an army. No, scratch that-an army was organized, controlled.  
This? this was a mob scene.

But they weren't trying to kill her as much as they seemed to be trying to blind her. Or cause some sort of seizure. Flash bulbs were going off everywhere she moved, and if they were looking for her to answer any of their questions, it would have been helpful if they didn't all talk at the same time. "Kate! How long have you two been dating?" "Kate! Were you two dating when Rick started shadowing you?" "Kate! Is Castle as good in the sack as his characters are in the books?"

The only thing saving her sanity right now was that she was under strict orders to *not* pay attention to any of the paparazzi that were practically climbing over each other in a desperate effort to *attract* that attention. Paula acted like the machete-wielding scout leading them through the dangerous jungles of Africa. Only this urban jungle was populated not by lions and tigers, but by photographers and reporters.

Paula, though, handled her prey with the finesse of a master hunter. "Boys, boys!" she called out, her distinctive loud voice cutting right through the cacophony of endless questions. "You know how much I hate to disappoint you..." The reporters responded with a chorus of groans and catcalls, which did not phase Paula in the least. "*But*, my clients have an exclusive deal with Oprah..." The groans increased in volume as Paula finished her announcement, "so take all the pictures you can get, but we're not answering any questions."

Shoulders sagged in an almost visible wave as the word got around that they had been once again trumped by the Queen of All Media. A few photographers took walking shots, hoping to have their patience pay off...even if the chance for a larger payoff was all but gone. To Paula's credit, by the time Castle, Beckett and their entourage reached their waiting car, the flashbulbs that had been blinding their path had finally stopped.

Castle could not have been more relieved. "Paula, I don't know how to thank you."

"That's what you pay me the big bucks for, Ricky," said Paula, clearly already distracted by something she was doing on her iPad. She snaked an arm around to the back seat, holding a copy of that morning's New York Post. "You guys should probably have some idea what the other side is working off of."

Beckett reached an arm in front the wall of roses separating her from her boyfriend to take the paper from Paula. "What page are we on?" she asked innocently.

Paula rolled her eyes in a near-instant show of annoyance and quick temper. "Where d'ya think?"

Her hopes for a buried human-interest story dashed for good, Beckett flipped through the paper until she got to the infamous gossip section, Page Six. Sure enough, the column had only one photograph: a 5x6 color image of her making out with her boyfriend, lit from behind by the gentle, incandescent light of his bedroom. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she read the annoying caption. "Ugh, this caption is terrible: 'Playboy crime novelist Richard Castle getting some 'hands-on' inspiration from his muse, NYPD Detective Kate Beckett.' Who writes this drivel?"

"Gossip columnists," Castle replied matter-of-factly, "and believe me, I've been on the receiving end of far, far worse." He held his hand over the roses, gesturing for her to give him the paper, which she surrendered to him gladly. Castle scanned the one-inch blurb about them before reading it out loud to his girlfriend. "This really isn't bad at all, Kate. Listen: 'The hearts of women across New York City will be quietly breaking tonight on the news that hunky bachelor crime novelist Richard Castle is all but officially off the market. After four years of on-and-off rumors that Castle was romantically involved with NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, the model for his best-selling heroine Nikki Heat, this picture surfaced among the ocean of photos from this past weekend of Will and the British Kate. This should put all the rumors to rest once and for all. Sorry, ladies!" Beckett shifted uncomfortably in her seat...which Castle couldn't help but notice even through the floral jungle between them. "Kate, it's not like they said anything that isn't true, is it?"

"No," Beckett conceded with a sigh. "I...I guess after keeping out relationship out of the press for so long, I was kind of hoping they didn't think we were...news-worthy..."

Paula was working very hard to suppress a full-blown outburst of laughter. "Not news-worthy..." she started muttering from the front seat, "who the hell did you think you were dating, detective..."

Castle, wisely, ignored Paula's comments. "Kate, honey, you know that this is part of my life. You've seen it in action for years now. As long as I have to promote my books in the press, they'll consider my life fair game. And if you're a part of my life..."

"...then that includes me too," Beckett finished his sentence for him. "I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it."

As the car pulled past a second mob of paparazzi and into the parking garage underneath Castle's building, the writer reached around the roses and squeezed Beckett's hand in a show of support. "Thank you for going through it anyway."

Beckett squeezed Castle's hand in return, finally allowing herself a small smile. "Always."

Paula said her goodbyes to the couple in the garage...but only after securing promises from both of them that they would meet with Oprah's production team first thing the next morning. Entourage-free, Castle and Beckett's focus was left solely on getting the two large vases full of roses into the elevator and up to the Loft.

Castle smiled as he successfully juggled opening the door while holding on to his share of the flowers. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed with a playful wink.

"Not bad, Castle," Beckett teased back, "but can you walk and chew gum at the same time?"

Castle's chance to reply to Beckett was cut short as Alexis pulled her father into the Loft as soon as he opened the door.. "Dad," Alexis insisted in a quick whisper, "I *swear* I tried everything I could think of to get rid of her, but she just would *not* leave..."

"Who, sweetheart?" asked Castle, disoriented and confused as to who could have gotten his daughter so worried about without her having to call the...

"Ricky!"

Castle's face drained of color as he recognized the voice that had just called out to him, the absolute *last* voice he could have possibly wanted to hear on that day, of all days...

"Ricky!" the voice squealed an octave higher than her previous call. "You brought flowers for me!" Castle felt a rustling of the flowers in the vase...ostensibly the owner of the voice grabbing the card out of his bouquet.

Silence hung in the apartment for a brief, painful moment before the older woman with Alexis' fiery red hair cleared a line of sight between herself and her ex-husband. "Rick?"

"Hi, Meredith," said Castle, his voice ringing with shock and embarrassment, "what are you doing here?"

Meredith stepped back, trying to re-assess the situation. "I...I booked a flight as soon as I saw those obviously doctored..." She took the vase from Beckett's hands, verifying the idea that had been starting to form in her mind since she read the card. "Pictures."

Castle shifted uncomfortably in place, having trouble figuring out what to do before finally deciding on setting the flowers down on a nearby end table. "Those pictures weren't doctored, Meredith."

Meredith watched as Alexis took the second bouquet of roses from Beckett, allowing the couple to find each other and stand facing her, holding hands. "So you two are...?"

"Together, yes," replied Castle.

Meredith studied the couple in front of her carefully. "You know," she told them, "Martha has never had much...respect...for me as an actress."

"Smart woman," Beckett commented sarcastically.

"She's wrong about me," Meredith countered angrily, leveling a furious glare at the object of her...affection as the older woman stood in the kitchen. "Always has been." She turned her attention back to the couple presenting a united front in front of her. "You know," Meredith purred, stalking Castle like a tigress sizing up her prey, "a major part of being an actress is studying your character." She traced a finger up Castle's arm and across the back of his shoulder blades, causing Castle to shudder and Beckett to squeeze his hand in a show of support...and possession. "You get to know them like you get to know a person...what they like, what they dislike. What turns them on..." Meredith finished her circle around the couple by glaring down Beckett...who never flinched or wavered in her position for even a second. "Their strengths...their weaknesses..."

"What do you want, Meredith?" Castle demanded. "I...We've had a long day, and I have no interest in being a part of one of your little..."

Meredith stopped Castle's tirade with a kiss. A hot, fiery, passionate lip lock that should have led to a night worthy of the top 10...

Nothing. No response whatsoever. Her ex-husband, the father of her only child, the one man who could give her the greatest orgasms of her *life*...Richard Alexander Rodgers Castle, for the first time in their entire relationship, was refusing to kiss her back.

This was...different.

Meredith pulled back from kissing her ex-husband to examine the couple's response to her actions. Castle shifted his weight between his feet awkwardly, looking anywhere he could *except* to meet her gaze. He was...he was embarrassed. As if he wanted nothing more than for her to leave. As soon as possible.

And the...other woman? Beckett's eyes never left her once. The woman radiated a confidence and security that wasn't there in their last meeting. It...it was unnerving. Meredith collected herself before speaking again. "Well, well, well," she commented, "you are most definitely not like the other girls he's screwed before, detective..."

Castle had had enough. "Get out," he spat out angrily through clenched teeth.

Meredith shook her head, blinking back the shock and disbelief coursing through her system. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," spat out Castle. He pushed into Meredith's personal space as he spoke, forcing her toward the door with every step he took. "You are my daughter's mother, and you have every right to be in her life. However, your daughter does not live here anymore. That means you don't have to be a part of my life anymore, and since you clearly have no respect for the woman who is a very important part of my life, Get. Out."

Meredith blanched, horrified to face a level of anger that she hadn't seen in her ex-husband...pretty much ever. "B-b-b-but," she finally stammered out nervously, "my suitcase is already in the guest room."

"I'll have it messengered to your hotel," Castle spat out in response as he opened the front door, "after you call your daughter and tell *her* where I should send it." He stood by the open door, making no moves to be cordial to the woman standing in front of him. "Goodbye, Meredith."

Meredith studied the face of her ex-husband...until she couldn't stand to see the pain in his eyes for a moment longer. "I love you, you know," she quietly admitted. "I always have."

"Sleeping with your director while we were still married is a terrible way to show your love for someone, Meredith," Castle insisted.

_God, the ice radiating from this man could freeze Mexico, _thought Meredith. It was over. It was finally over once and for all. Richard Castle had finally given his heart completely over to someone, and it was not her. She held up her right hand to gently caress Castle's cheek as a lump formed in her throat. "Goodbye..." she sighed dramatically. "My love..."

Castle closed the door on his ex-wife and never looked back, turning instead to face the three greatest women of his past, his present...and hopefully his future. "So," he announced, "what's for dinner?"

* * *

**Hi all! I hate writing procedural plot stuff sometimes. As much as I write case stuff, it can get really boring...especially when you're running through a part of the investigation that will essentially be a dead end. That's where I am with the AU at the moment. It's a slog to get through a paragraph sometimes. So dark (these days, lots of dark) + tough writing that's not my favorite to do + need to distract myself = New Chapter in Power Play! Hope you guys enjoy it. I kinda feel like I had to get this chapter out before Meredith showed up in the loft again on the show. Anyway, as always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Comments?  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Kate Beckett was as nervous as a teenage girl waiting for her first date to arrive. She paced the loft so quickly that Castle was starting to feel like he was watching her do wind sprints. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and Castle stood in the middle of the groove that his girlfriend was slowly working into his floor. "Kate," he chuckled as he grabbed her hands, forcing her to stop moving and focus her attentions on him. "Will you *relax*?! Everything is going to be *fine*..."

Beckett opened her mouth to speak, then, not knowing what to say, shut her mouth again, walked around Castle and resumed her pacing. Castle rolled his eyes, then moved out of his girlfriend's way and poured himself a scotch.

As the amber-colored liquid settled back in the glass and the crystal cleared his eyes, Castle noticed that Beckett has finally stopped pacing, glaring at him with her hands crossed across her chest. "Is that how you prep for *all* your interviews, Rick?" she asked with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

Castle replied with a smirk. "You have your coping mechanisms, Kate; I have mine."

A knock on the door pulled the couple's attention from their budding argument, and Beckett opened it to discover Paula at the door...with an entourage. "Good morning, Paula," Kate greeted her, "are you here to watch the interview?"

Paula nodded, holding up her hands in a gesture of innocence. "Just to make sure that Oprah stays within the guidelines we sent her, nothing more."

Skeptical of the publicist's answer, Beckett motioned to the three women surrounding Paula. "And what about your friends?"

"Oh they're not here for me," Paula countered, "they're here for you."

Beckett's eyes widened in nervous surprise. "For me?"

Paula nodded again, pointing to each of the three women in turn. "Stylist, hair and makeup. I told you my job is to make sure you get through this in the best possible light. And *this*, Detective Beckett, is all part of the service."

Beckett stared at the four-woman professional support system who, she could only assume, were being paid extremely well to make sure she had the best possible experience in the public eye. The least she could do is not stand in their way. Beckett stood back, holding the door open and abandoning herself to her fate. "Won't you come in..."

* * *

The loft felt like it was slowly being overtaken by lights, camera equipment, and television monitors. Martha kept to the back of the apartment as she came down the stairs, quickly realizing that the only safe place, for the moment, was probably the kitchen. And it was in that kitchen that she found her son cooking up a storm. "Richard?" she asked, approaching him carefully, "Where's Kate?"

Castle tilted his head toward his bedroom as he pulled a batch of biscuits out of the oven, putting the finishing touches on an enormous brunch spread. "Paula brought a crew with her to help Kate get ready for today."

Martha took in the full scene in front of her, studying her son's expression carefully. "Are you doing okay, kiddo?"

Castle nodded as he fixed himself a plate. "Yeah...why do you ask?"

"You never cook this much unless you're *really* nervous."

Castle sighed, knowing he had nothing left to hide behind. "I *am* nervous, mother. For Kate. This whole thing has been kind of a 'thrown in the deep end' introduction to living in the public eye, and if this doesn't go well..."

It didn't take a rocket scientist for Martha to know what was scaring her son. "You're afraid she'll break up with you if this goes badly."

Castle reluctantly, quietly, nodded. Martha smiled, rubbing her son's back in a gesture of gentle reassurance. "Oh, Richard," she began quietly, "if I know anything about Kate Beckett, I know that she's not one to run from a challenge...*any* challenge. She's known you a long time, and was a fan of yours long before that. She knew what she was getting into, and as private as the two of you have tried to be since you started dating, Kate had to have known this was coming. She'll be *fine*."

"Thank you, mother," Castle responded with a smile and a hug. "It's just...just that..."

Martha pulled away from the embrace just enough to rub her son's arm in a gesture of deeper support. "I know, kiddo...I know. Remember when I told you I stopped getting emotionally involved over your girlfriends?" When Castle nodded, Martha smiled in a way that spoke of how proud she was of her son's new level of maturity. "That stopped being the case about six months ago..."

Castle's eyes lit up as he realized who his mother was talking about. Then the door to the master bedroom opened. It was an action that Castle caught out of the corner of his eye, and he separated from his mother's embrace to watch as Beckett slowly, nervously re-entered the living room.

Martha watched her son's eyes light up in the way that was reserved *only* for Kate Beckett. "Get over there, kiddo," she nudged with a loving smile.

Castle smiled, dancing around the maze of cables until he was close enough to reach his girlfriend's hand, caressing it gently in his own. "You look beautiful."

Beckett smiled and blushed, her eyes lighting up in a way that was saved only for him. Out of the corner of his eye, Castle noticed his girlfriend's fairy god-entourage smiling, sighing...and was that giggling?...over their interactions with each other. He turned back toward the living room, one hand never leaving his girlfriend's. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked. "I made brunch."

The couple headed toward the kitchen when they were detoured by a knock at the door. Never letting go of Beckett's hand, Castle opened the door...

...and came face-to-face with Oprah Winfrey.

* * *

**_Am I stalling? Heck yeah I'm stalling. Turns out it's harder to impersonate the Queen of All Media than it looks. Ask Katie Couric. ;-) Anyway, the big problem I'm having is that I'm blocked on writing the interview. I asked a very popular writer on this site to give me a hand, and while she has graciously agreed to help me, I figured I'd write up the pre-interview in the hopes of starting to get over this writer's block. _**

**_The good news is that I'm focused right now (where my writing is concerned) mostly on finishing this story. I will warn you, though, that I'm only planning two more chapters: the Oprah interview and the red carpet for the Nikki Heat movie premiere. _**

**_After that, I'm going to launch full-on into the last story of the Four Winds series. I've warned you guys from the beginning that that series is my heart and priority where it comes to my writing. If you haven't read any of it, check my author page. It's definitely an eccentric adventure, (picture the world of the show, but with the top 5 of the Castle gang having supernatural powers and the bad guys being amped up to, well, appropriately magical levels) but I've had an absolute blast writing it and, well, if the comments I've gotten are any indication, it's a lot of fun to read as well._**

**_Anyway...feel free to leave comments; I always love to hear from you guys. Have a great day!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, here it is...the chapter you've all been waiting for. All thanks and praise go to the wonderful DMarx who not only gave me the inspiration to finally get this chapter done, but beta'd it as well. I hope it meets your expectations...**

**DISCLAIMER: Oprah Winfrey belongs to herself. This is the one and only time I've ever tried to write in the voice of a real-life person, and it is *hard*. I hope I've done her at least some semblance of a decent tribute...but if I didn't, please don't hesitate to let me know...**

* * *

"Richard Castle, right?" asked Oprah. She held out her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Oprah..."

"Of course, of course," Castle cut her off with a smile as he shook Oprah's hand with his free one. "Please, call me Rick."

"Rick," Oprah repeated with a smile as she entered the apartment. She then focused on the woman holding Castle's other hand. "You're Kate Beckett, right? The NYPD detective who inspired Nikki Heat?"

Beckett blushed, as she often did at comments about being the inspiration for Nikki Heat. "Yeah...that's me," she replied as she shook Oprah's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Detective," Oprah greeted her. She noticed the other woman's clear hesitation. "I know this is nerve-wracking, Detective..."

"Call me Kate," Beckett countered.

"Kate," Oprah repeated, slowly approaching the woman she was there to interview. "Try to relax, Kate. This isn't live; there's no one here you need to pay attention to besides me and Rick. Just tell me your story. That's what I'm here for."

Beckett studied the woman in front of her. It was clear to her how Oprah had become the trusted source the world had come to know and love. The woman had been in the house less than five minutes and already Beckett knew she liked her. "Would you like a cup of coffee, Ms. Winfrey?"

"Call me Oprah," Oprah replied. "And yes, I'd love a cup." The trio went to the kitchen, where Oprah smiled in appreciation of Castle's earlier handiwork. "Someone likes to cook like a Southerner..."

"That would be me," Castle admitted, blushing. "I...I cook when I'm nervous."

Beckett turned a surprised eyebrow to her boyfriend. "Really? You cooked all this?"

Castle didn't get the chance to answer. "Rachael Ray cooks when she's nervous, too," Oprah commented, trying to reassure the couple. "Of course, she cooks when she's feeling just about any emotion. It's a wonder that woman isn't 400 pounds..." She let out a small chuckle at her own joke, which Castle and Beckett soon joined in on. This seemed to give Oprah a moment of inspiration. "Hey," she suggested, "my team thought we should do the interview on the couch, but if it would make you more comfortable, we could all grab plates and sit down at the dining room table..."

Beckett and Castle readily agreed to the idea. The on-site producer had to resist his urge to roll his eyes in front of the boss. "You heard the woman," he announced to the room, "let's make it happen!"

As the room erupted in controlled chaos trying to follow their boss' suggestion, Castle went to grab plates for himself and the two women. They dished up full plates of food, and Beckett took Castle's plate to the table while Castle pulled out three coffee mugs. "Oprah, how do you take your coffee?"

"Milk, little bit of sugar," replied Oprah. "Thanks, Rick."

Castle brought three mugs to the table, setting Beckett's down in front of her first. Oprah noticed the action immediately. "He knows how you take your coffee, Kate?"

Beckett tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she blushed. "He's brought me my coffee every morning for years now. It's kind of become our thing."

"Really?" Oprah exclaimed, raising a curious eyebrow. "And how long has that been?"

"A little over four years," Castle replied with a loving smile in his girlfriend's direction.

Oprah's eyes widened at the number Castle quoted her. She quickly realized that there was more of a story between Richard Castle and Kate Beckett than what her producers had told her...Oprah quickly pulled out her phone, dialing a number while the couple watched. "Yeah, it's me," she announced to the woman on the other end of the line. "Go ahead and cancel the interviews with Michael Connolly and James Patterson. We can *easily* get an hour out of this thing with Castle. Thanks...bye."

Castle couldn't wipe the smile off of his face as he ate...which Oprah noticed as soon as she got off her phone. "What's with him?" she asked Beckett.

"Castle's a little competitive when it comes to the two authors you just mentioned on the phone," Beckett replied, rolling her eyes with a smirk. "So to know that you find him interesting enough to interview him *instead* of them..." She leaned in the other woman in a conspiratorial whisper, "he may never let them live this down."

Oprah laughed loudly at Beckett's explanation. "Yeah, I'll bet..." She then called out to her producer, "Tom, how soon until we're ready?"

"Just a second..." Tom called out in response as he adjusted one last light to get the right tone to his boss' skin. "Okay, we're ready anytime."

Oprah turned to a second man, ostensibly her director. "Martin? Everything's ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," Martin replied with a nod, "just say the word."

Oprah took a bite of her biscuit before speaking, smiling as she enjoyed the results of Castle's cooking. She swallowed, enjoying the silence in the room before announcing, "All right then, let's get this show on the road." As Martin and the cameramen prepped to start actively filming, Oprah told the couple, "At this point in the show, we'll do a brief overview of Castle's career as a writer and the gossip column about your relationship going public. Don't worry about that; my team will put that together when we edit the footage from today."

Castle and Beckett nodded in acknowledgement as Martin started a silent countdown with his fingers. "5...4...3...2...1..." He then pointed to Oprah in a gesture that Beckett could only assume meant "Action."

"We're here with author Richard Castle to get the story behind the story of his relationship with his girlfriend Kate Beckett, who he has very publicly credited as being the inspiration for his latest iconic character, Nikki Heat. Good morning, Rick, Kate."

"Good morning, Oprah," Castle returned her greeting, turning on the charm for the cameras.

"Let's start at the beginning," declared Oprah. "How'd you two meet?"

Beckett started their story. "In 2009 I was working a case where the victims were being killed in ways that copied three of the murders portrayed in the Derrick Storm novels..."

Castle broke in at that point. "...I had just killed Derrick off in Storm Fall..."

"So," Beckett continued her side of the story, "after the second murder I...brought Castle in for questioning."

Oprah's eyes widened just slightly. "So you arrested him?"

Beckett replied with a sly smile. "Not that time."

"Really?" Oprah was clearly growing more fascinated by the minute. "How many times have you had to arrest him?"

"Four times," replied Beckett, a ghost of discomfort flashing across her face.

"Anyway," Castle interrupted the two women to steer the interview away from the uncomfortable potential subject, "I was so intrigued by the idea of having a copycat that I offered to assist the police with the investigation, and by the time we caught the guy..."

Oprah latched onto the pronoun immediately. "We?"

Beckett glared at Castle for giving Oprah extra information to work with. "Castle likes to be a little more 'hands on' when he offers his assistance to the department."

"Truth be told, she had trouble getting rid of me," Castle countered with a smile. "They thought they got the guy, but I had started to suspect the real killer was framing the guy they had arrested for these murders. So I...borrowed...the file from Beckett's desk..."

"Which is when I arrested him the first time," declared Beckett with a smile and teasing glare at Castle. "And when I realized that I wasn't going to get rid of him that easily, I figured if you can't beat 'em..."

Oprah, by this point, was completely invested in their story. "So, Rick, you were there when they arrested the real killer?"

"I was," replied Castle. The smile on his face clearly showed the world how deeply in love he was with Kate Beckett. "She was amazing."

"And that was when Nikki Heat was born?" asked Oprah.

Castle nodded. "Kate was the most interesting person I had met in a long, long time. It wasn't a stretch to believe that other people would be interested in her, too."

"So is this when the two of you started dating?" Oprah asked the couple, convinced that that was the reason for the number she had heard earlier.

"No," Beckett replied firmly, hoping to put that rumor to rest once and for all. "At that point I had *no* interest in dating Richard Castle."

"Admit it, you had a *little* interest," Castle countered, his tone unabashedly teasing. Beckett simply glared at her boyfriend, annoyed beyond words that he let loose with that kind of comment in front of television cameras.

Oprah glanced down at some notes she had next to her breakfast plate. "You started your ride-along with the NYPD shortly after that, right, Rick?" Castle nodded. Connecting the exchange she had just seen with her question, Oprah turned her question to Beckett. "I take it this wasn't your idea, Kate?"

"Absolutely *not*," Beckett declared firmly. "It felt like I was babysitting a nine-year-old on a sugar rush at first."

Oprah turned to Castle. "So you requested the ride-along, Rick?"

Castle nodded. "I wanted to know everything about how Beckett did her job. So I could get the details right for the book."

"So there was only going to be one book?" asked Oprah.

Castle nodded again. "Initially. As much as *I* was sure the public was going to love Nikki...my publishers weren't quite as sure."

"But Nikki proved you right when Heat Wave became an instant best-seller," countered Oprah. "Leading to three more best-sellers in the series and an upcoming movie based on Heat Wave."

Castle smiled, blushing just slightly. "I've been quite fortunate over the years."

"Frozen Heat has been flying off the shelves," continued Oprah. "And if the reviews are any indication, it seems like you've got quite a handle on Nikki's character. Is that because of all the time you've spent with the NYPD?"

"Absolutely," insisted Castle. "By working alongside the NYPD, I've been able to pick up all sorts of little details about how cops do their jobs that I've transferred into the books. It has given the books an authenticity that my...competitors aren't able to replicate."

Oprah picked up on the beginning of Castle's answer. "You said that you work *alongside* the NYPD. So when you ride-along with the NYPD, you're not just quietly sitting in the car? You're actually contributing to their investigations?"

"Yes," admitted Beckett. "Castle's theories may be a little...outlandish, at times..."

"Outlandish?" asked Oprah.

Beckett decided to pay Castle back for his earlier comments. "Apparently everything starts out as a CIA conspiracy with him."

Oprah was clearly amused by the idea. "Oh, really?"

Beckett nodded, her tone quickly becoming more serious and affectionate. She blushed as she continued, "But once you get him to focus on the *evidence*, Castle's extremely helpful. A large part of solving a murder is using the evidence to reconstruct the story of the victim's last hours. When you combine the evidence with Castle's years of experience thinking like a criminal, it's surprising how often he points us in the right direction."

"Is that why you're still working at the NYPD?" Oprah asked Castle. "After four and a half years, you can't still be there for research. The NYPD Police Academy is only six months long..."

Castle nodded. "It's nice to be able to use my expertise to make a difference."

"We talked to a couple of your co-workers, Kate," said Oprah. "A detective...Kevin Ryan and a detective...Javier Esposito. They both referred to Rick as your partner. Is that how you think of him?"

Beckett reached for her boyfriend's hand, holding it as she answered the question. "When we're at the precinct...absolutely. He doesn't have a gun and a badge, but I've never had a partner who's had a better understanding of what it means to have my back. He's an invaluable asset to what I do on the job."

"And when did this relationship switch from just being professional to being professional *and* personal?"

Beckett squeezed Castle's hand and shyly smiled. "Six months ago. I'm sure that you have it in your notes about how I was shot at the funeral of my former captain..."

"Roy Montgomery," Oprah chimed in, filling in the details as Beckett suggested. "Rick dedicated Heat Rises to him. It was, in fact, the only one of the Nikki Heat books he didn't dedicate to you."

Beckett nodded, her face darkening as she remembered one of the worst times in her life. "I...I was really grateful that he did that. Anyway...after I was shot...it put life in a little clearer perspective for me." She squeezed Castle's hand a second time as she admitted, "I finally realized that the man I really wanted had been the one who was in my life all along."

Oprah checked her notes. "But...that was almost a year before you *say* you started dating? What took you two so long to finally get together?"

"We had a couple of...miscommunications," Beckett replied cryptically. "It took most of that year for us to get the air cleared between us. But once we did..." The smile that lit up Beckett's face showed that she was just as in love with Richard Castle as he was with her.

Oprah was so enchanted by the obvious love the couple had for each other that she set aside the vagueness of the circumstances that led to them getting together. "What is it you love most about Rick, Kate?"

Kate tucked another wayward lock of hair behind her ear. "I was a fan of his books long before I ever met him," she admitted shyly. "He makes me laugh all the time...even when he's determined to drive me crazy. He's incredibly smart. He's an amazing dad...you should see him with his daughter sometime. And he shows me how much he cares about me in a hundred different ways, every day."

"And what about you, Rick?" asked Oprah. "What makes Kate Beckett so extraordinary?"

"She's the strongest, bravest woman I've ever met," Castle replied matter-of-factly, as if it should have been obvious to anyone who was watching the interview. "But it's so much more than that. She has the most incredible level of compassion for the families of the victims that she's seen day in, day out for years. And I've never seen her blow off a family or act like someone's case wasn't the most important thing she could possibly be doing. She's got a wicked sense of humor. She's...beyond brilliant. She's fiercely loyal to the people that she cares about. She's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. As much as I've tried to reflect that in Nikki Heat, it's only a pale imitation of who Kate Beckett is in real life. I am, truly, a very lucky man."

Oprah had to take a second to collect herself. "Rick, Kate, thank you for talking to us today." Beckett and Castle nodded as the director wrapped the filming of the interview. Oprah then got up to shake the couple's hands. "That was a fantastic interview, Rick, Kate. People are just going to love you two. Anyway, thank you for having me, but I have to run. I have a meeting at OWN in an hour."

Castle and Beckett both stood up along side their guest. "Let us walk you out," Castle volunteered.

Once the couple led Oprah through the maze of people packing up to leave, the talk show queen turned her attention to Beckett. "When you're finally ready to tell the rest of your story...I hope you'll call me."

Beckett tried to look confused. "Rest of my story?"

Oprah nodded. "I noticed how you both didn't want to talk about the time when you finally went from being just friends to becoming a couple. I can only assume that it has something to do with your mother's murder?"

Beckett reacted with only the slightest flinch...which was enough of a reaction for the seasoned journalist to know she had hit pay dirt.

"It's still an open investigation, isn't it?"

Beckett flinched more obviously this time...a clear sign to Oprah that Beckett was extremely anxious about her even bringing it up. "Don't worry," Oprah reassured her, "I promise I won't go digging into the case. I know your people asked me not to discuss the matter in this interview..."

"Which you didn't," admitted Castle.

Oprah pushed as far as she felt she could. "And I *won't*. Still...when you've found whatever it is you're looking for, I would love to hear about it. If it got a writer like Richard Castle to fall in love with you, then it's got to be one hell of a story..."

"Okay," Beckett finally relented as she returned the older woman's warm hug of goodbye. "I can't promise I'll ever get there...but if I ever do get to the point where I can talk about it, I'll give you the whole story."

* * *

**_Please comment! I'd love to hear what you think. One last chapter to go..._**


	8. Chapter 8

Kate stared out the window of the limousine, trying not to fidget as the crazy world of midtown passed them by.

Rick couldn't help but notice the bouncing of his girlfriend's left knee, and rested his right hand on that knee in an attempt to keep the appendage still. "Hey!" he exclaimed quietly, "It's starting to feel like there's an earthquake going on in here...and not the good kind."

The physical contact shook Kate out of her reverie with a jolt. "Oh!" she exclaimed, blushing. "Sorry..."

"Why are you so nervous?" asked Rick. "You couldn't possibly look any more beautiful than you do right now..."

Kate leaned back in her seat, sighing as the limo moved all of six inches in the dense traffic. "When we watched the broadcast of the interview today, all I could think of was how much I talked, and how much I said..."

"I know!" Rick exclaimed in mock annoyance. "I mean, after you told Oprah that every theory I have starts out as a CIA conspiracy then *all* I could think of was how I'm going to walk into the precinct to find my chair covered in tinfoil and buried in Oliver Stone movies..."

Kate glared at him in response...but the annoyance couldn't quite consume her, and it was only a moment before they were chuckling together at his expense. Kate cupped Rick's face in her hands and leaned in to kiss her. Rick allowed their lips to meet for only the briefest of moments before taking her hands down to be held in his own. "Kate...I know I've made a lot of jokes over the years about why I created Nikki Heat, but do you know why Nikki became so incredibly popular?"

"This ought to be good..." Kate replied with a wry smirk.

Rick matched her smirk to show that her teasing wasn't getting to him. "Nikki Heat is *you*, Kate. When people read Nikki's story, they start to love you almost as much as I do. And now that they've seen a bit of the *real* you, Kate...they're only going to love you more."

Kate leaned in, kissing Rick gently, hoping the love and gratefulness for his words poured through their contact. When she opened her eyes to find her boyfriend gracing her with one of his overwhelming smiles, she knew the message was received. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," Rick whispered back. He pulled back, never letting go of her hands...figuring that that moment was probably as good a time as any to bring up what had been on *his* mind. "Kate...uh, about the interview..."

"What about it?" asked Kate.

"Did you mean what you said to Oprah after the interview...about..."

Kate was still confused. "About what?"

"About letting Oprah interview us about your mother's case?"

"Oh," Kate mouthed without sound coming out.

Rick studied his girlfriend as silence filled the back seat of the limousine. The car moved a few more feet, and his face fell with every inch he thought she was stalling. "You were just saying that to get her off your back, weren't you?"

"I think I was at the time," Kate finally admitted. "The more I think about it, though..."

"The more you realize how powerful an ally someone like Oprah can be?"

Kate nodded. "The one thing people like Bracken fear is not people like me. It's people like *her* exposing what they've done."

Rick was sure he knew where she was going with this. "There *has* to be proof of Bracken's involvement out there somewhere. If there really was no proof, then they wouldn't be so desperately worried about you investigating the case."

Kate was in full agreement. "So, when we're ready to take these guys on full force, we find that evidence and we take it to Oprah."

Rick felt like he couldn't be prouder of his girlfriend than he was in that moment. "When *we're* ready?"

"When *we're* ready."

Rick pulled Kate into a fierce hug, pulling his head back only enough to pour all of his love into a passionate kiss as the car turned the corner toward beginning of the red carpet. Kate, though, started pulling away seconds after Rick's lips met hers. "Castle..." she warned, clearly growing in her annoyance, "I still have to look good on that red carpet, remember?"

Rick's smile was completely unapologetic. "Fine. But just know that the minute we get home..."

The roar of the crowd cut Kate off from any comment she was going to make in response. The door swung open, and a hand reached in to help Kate keep her balance as she stepped out of the car to a fresh round of cheering. An announcer's voice cut through the cacophony of noise that surrounded her. "Ladies and gentlemen, the creator of Nikki Heat, Richard Castle and her real-life inspiration, Kate Beckett!"

A fresh round of cheering rang through the air as Rick emerged from the limousine. The car drove away as Kate linked arms with her boyfriend and faced what was to come.

The entrance to a movie theater never looked so far away. Rick could feel his girlfriend tensing up around his arm, and he patted that arm with his other hand to show his support. "Ready?"

Kate drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, hoping the move would untangle the knot of nerves in her stomach. She tried to remind herself that she was there as Castle's arm candy; that the press were all looking for his sound bites and the crowd was only there looking for his autograph. After all, he was the famous one, right? Who'd want to talk to a homicide detective when Richard Castle was right there next to her?

It was then that she started to pick out individual voices in the crowd. They weren't calling out for Castle...

They were cheering for her.

"Kate!" "Kate you're so pretty!" "Kate who are you wearing?!" "Kate that dress is amazing!" "Kate, can I get your autograph?!" The more she listened, the more voices she heard calling her name. She looked to Rick in amazement, wanting to see if he could confirm that what she was hearing was actually *real*.

Rick's smile was a mixture of love, wonder and pride. He tilted his head toward the crowd. "You should go over and say hi," he suggested.

Kate turned fully toward the crowd, taking a couple of tentative steps in their direction. She was answered with a fresh wall of joyous sound giving her encouragement. As she approached, a dark-haired girl who couldn't have been older than fifteen thrust an autograph book and pen in her direction, her hope-filled look begging Kate to sign. It was a look Kate knew she couldn't refuse. As she took the pen and steadied the book, Kate commented, "you know, this is the first time anyone's asked me for my autograph..."

The teen's happiness overflowed in a typical teenage expression of joy, "Ohmigod, really?! No freakin' way! You are totally my *idol*! I'm applying to the academy as soon as I graduate! I want to be just like you..."

Kate was dumbfounded, as much by the girl's enthusiasm as her actual words. She handed the pen back...and was confronted by the girl's iPhone. "Can we take a picture together?" the girl asked. "Please?!" Kate nodded, turning so the girl could lean in toward her, putting them cheek-to-cheek in front of the camera. The screen clicked, and the girl gave her as enthusiastic a hug as she could without ruining Kate's hair or makeup. "Thank you so much!"

Kate nodded, giving the girl a warm smile as she faded back into the crowd. The cycle repeated itself in some variation over and over again as Kate grew in confidence, eventually signing autographs and posing for pictures with the crowd like she'd been doing it for years. Rick finally came over to 'rescue' his girlfriend with a teasing announcement to the crowd, "Sorry, folks...we don't want Kate to be too late for her movie, now do we?"

The cheers started to mix with a few boos as Rick escorted his girlfriend through the many reporters looking for sound bytes to air on the evening entertainment news shows. By the time the couple made it through the theater's revolving doors and into the pre-screening lobby reception, Kate was overwhelmed and energized at the same time. "Rick," she turned to her boyfriend, smiling, "I know I make fun of the whole celebrity part of your life, but how in the world did you do that every time you went out? Doing it once was *exhausting*..."

Rick smiled. "You get used to it after a while, just like anything else. And *you* were amazing out there, by the way..."

Kate's mind flashed back to the effusive praise she had gotten from the first girl she had signed an autograph for. She blushed at the memory. "I had always heard about how the books have been such good PR for the department, and how we needed people to see cops in a positive light for once, but until tonight...I never, ever thought that Nikki Heat might actually inspire someone to become a cop themselves."

"It makes a difference to know you're making a difference, doesn't it?" asked Rick, his smile growing even brighter.

It was a smile Kate finally felt comfortable sharing. "Yeah...it really does."

"Well, if it isn't my girl of the hour and her writer-boy arm candy..."

Kate broke away from her boyfriend to embrace her best friend. "Lanie," she exclaimed, looking her friend over from top to toe, "you look amazing..."

"Thank you," Lanie said with a smile. "It's so very nice to get out of my scrubs every once in a while."

Rick's curiosity quickly got the better of him. "Did you see the interview?"

Lanie glared at Rick like he had just made the world's dumbest comment. "Did I see the interview? What do you think could have possibly been important enough for me to miss it?" She then turned and gave her best friend a huge, supportive hug. "You were amazing, you know."

"Thanks, Lanie," said Kate as she accepted the hug. Out of the corner of her eye, Kate noticed Esposito coming up to them with Ryan and Jenny. "Whoa, Espo," Kate teased, pulling away from her friend's embrace, "you mean to tell me you couldn't snag a date for a major red carpet movie premiere..."

Esposito responded simply by snaking an arm around the waist of Kate's best friend. "Who said I couldn't get a date..." he countered with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin while Lanie leaned teasingly into her ex-boyfriend's embrace.

Kate's heart leapt as she watched the interactions of the couple that she was *hoping* was re-emerging in front of her. "Have fun, tonight, you two...don't do anything we wouldn't do."

"That goes double for you two, then..." Lanie countered, smiling.

Natalie Rhodes entered the room, bringing the group's playful banter to a halt. She went straight to Kate, greeting her with a European set of air-kisses. "Detective Beckett! It's so good to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too, Natalie," Beckett responded in kind. It was only then that she noticed slight air of tension surrounding the actress. "Everything ok?"

"Oh, fine, fine..." Natalie replied, blowing off Kate's question with a smile. "I just hate watching myself onscreen, that's all. I hope I've done you justice..."

"I'm sure you're performance will be spectacular," Kate reassured her.

Natalie's attention was distracted by the approach of a few of her fellow actors, and she waved over not just the actors, but a photographer as well. "Oh, hey, guys!" she greeted the actors, "Get over here..." Natalie turned and addressed the group of cops. "While we were filming, the guys here went on and on about how much fun they had when they got a chance to help you with a case when you were in LA. After I told them that I had met the cops their characters were modeled after, we all agreed that when we came here for the New York premiere we each wanted to get pictures taken with our real cop counterparts. You guys up for it?"

The group readily agreed, and the photographer jumped in right away, first taking a giant group shot, then breaking up the group into each individual pairing and snapping away. Finally only one man was left...a tall, older black gentleman with a tough, yet seductively deep bass voice. He kissed Kate's hand chivalrously before introducing himself. "Detective Beckett? My name is Julian Jameson. I had the honor of playing Captain Montrose in the movie."

The cops' faces fell as they remembered the reason why Julian was the odd man out. The change in the group's energy wasn't lost on the man. "Detective," he began, not quite letting go of Kate's hand, "I understand the man that my character was modeled after was something of a mentor to you?"

Kate's voice choked up slightly as she nodded. "Yes...yes he was."

"It is also my understanding that Captain...Montgomery was killed in the line of duty?" When Kate nodded, Julian continued, "then, Detective, I would be honored to take a picture with you and your on-screen counterpart."

Kate started to nod...then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an older woman and two teenage girls watching the group's interactions from a distance. "I'll do you one better, Mr. Jameson," Kate added with a sly smile. "Evelyn!"

The woman came over at Kate's call, and embraced Kate as soon as they were in a close enough physical distance to each other. When they broke their embrace, Kate made the introductions. "Julian Jameson, I'd like to introduce you to Evelyn Montgomery, Captain Roy Montgomery's widow."

Julian's eyes widened just slightly at the recognition of his real-life counterpart's name, and he smiled, bowing deeply before kissing Evelyn's hand. "It is truly an honor to meet you, Mrs. Montgomery. My real-life counterpart obviously had *exquisite* taste in women."

Evelyn blushed at the compliment. "It...it's very nice to meet you," she responded nervously.

Kate swore she could just make out the sound of Evelyn's daughters giggling loudly behind her as Julian took pictures with Evelyn. Julian then stunned just about everyone in the group of cops and actors as he offered his arm to the captain's widow. "Would you do me the honor of joining me for the rest of the evening, Evelyn?"

Evelyn face lit up at the idea of having such a handsome escort for the evening, and she looped her arm around his, accepting the offer. This set off another round of loud giggling from the girls as the group watched Julian leave with his date. "I gotta admit, honey," Ryan commented to his wife, "I did *not* see that coming..."

The few people who could comment all had the same thought running through their heads: "Me neither..."

The flashing of the lights in the lobby forced everyone's attentions back to the present. Rick offered his arm to his girlfriend, imitating Julian's earlier gesture. "Would you do me the honor of joining me for the screening, Detective Beckett?"

Kate smiled warmly as she looped her arm through her boyfriend's. "Always."

* * *

**_Well, that's it, folks! Thank you so much for overwhelming love and support you guys have given me throughout this story. It literally would not be the story it became without the favorites, follows, and *especially* comments encouraging me to come back to it. So don't forget to leave one last note! :-)_**


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